In the race, Hamilton made a good start, and stayed comfortably ahead of the field for the entire race, always able to put on an extra burst of speed when necessary. Vettel survived a badly-timed pit stop, and was able to pull within 10 seconds of Hamilton, but never seriously threatened the lead. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen just held off teammate Daniel Ricciardo for the final spot on the podium.

Like the race in 2016, supersoft, soft and medium tyres were confirmed for the 2017 race. As with the Australian Grand Prix, Pirelli declared that every driver must have seven sets of supersofts, four sets of softs, and two sets of mediums, since the drivers did not make their decisions before pre-season testing.[3]

With Vettel's win, there were predictions that Ferrari could become a title challenger alongside Mercedes. Vettel responded: "...we've also made a leap forward in terms of engine power, so we don't need to hide. Yes, Mercedes has a very strong package - you see that in qualifying where I believe that they are still a bit ahead. But a race is always a different matter. I would say that we've been slightly faster - and maybe you can make a difference as well."[4]

Despite Sauber's confidence that Pascal Wehrlein would compete after he withdrew from the first race due to not enough training,[5] they later determined that he will not participate at the Chinese Grand Prix, with Antonio Giovinazzi taking his place again.[6]